Let's Be Sensible, Let's Be Friends
by Speed of Darkness
Summary: When Ozai demanded the Avatar, when the world demanded peace and balance, when Dad said, "Protect your sister," no one specified how. Using brains over bending, can everyone win? A Zuko POV story in which one deviation from the canon transforms everyone's fates…
1. Prey Sighted

**Author's Note: Hello, patrons of Fanfiction . net. Welcome to this little fic of mine, which is narrated by a debatably OOC Zuko who both listens to his uncle's advice and tries to think like Azula. Featuring other familiar characters such as childlike Aang, resentful Katara, overprotective and slightly narcissistic Sokka, and wise Uncle Iroh, the plot requires that you, the reader, divert back to your very earliest understandings of these beloved characters; imagine them as they were in the very first episode, as that is where our story begins…**

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Uncle had one last piece of advice for me before I walked off the ship. His breath was visible haze in the frigid South Pole air, and I tried to read his lips as the crunching of the icy shore under the prow of my ship drowned out his subdued voice.

"Prince Zuko," he cautioned me, "There is little to be gained by making enemies. People do not tend to cooperate when you give them reason to hate you. Mind your temper."

"Very well, Uncle," I replied shortly as I considered that. As much as I had little patience for the old man's pacifism, I recognized that the former general had a point. As a teenager pitted against an ancient Avatar, I was inherently at a disadvantage; it would be to my benefit to win him with words, convincing him aboard my ship, where I could either have him ambushed and taken captive or simply escort him to the Fire Nation capital on pretenses of diplomacy. Even at this stage of progression of the war, it was still perfectly plausible that a power with a yet undeclared allegiance might be invited into discussions with one side or the other. I would spin it as his _honor_ that the crown prince of the Fire Nation would come halfway around the world to collect him—we in the Fire Nation held the Avatar in _such_ high esteem.

These thoughts were finishing as I, with purpose and dignity in my stride befitting the importance of my nearly accomplished mission, descended from my ship flanked by armored men. Before I had even set foot on their ice, a painted Water Tribe savage charged me with some sort of laughable club, screaming wordlessly.

Sadly, it appeared as if they did not wish to be friends.

When the boy reached me, I quickly knocked his weapon out of his hand and sent him flying in the other direction to land head first in a heap of snow. I immediately turned to meet my next attacker. There was not one.

The Southern Water Tribe was a tiny village; after a quick count, I saw that it was made up of about two dozen persons. All, except for the painted boy still extracting himself from the snow, were women or young children. There would be no attack from these people who knew they could not stand against even the downtrodden crew of my small retired warship.

I straightened and continued my walk. My guard was not down—I still knew that the Avatar was somewhere near. I stopped right in front of the cluster of cowering civilians. There was a pleasure in knowing that I caused them fear; it gave me a measure of control over them, and control was necessary to this particular negotiation on which rode my own fate and honor.

"Where is he?" I asked, menace in my voice; I was playing up the fear, asserting my dominance so that not even the oldest stubborn crone or the most insolent toddler would dare elicit my anger. I could almost hear Uncle cautioning me to be careful now.

I was met with blank stares of incomprehension mixed with distrust. I silently applauded their performance, for I already knew that they had to be hiding the Avatar. He was none of these people—of that, even a cursory glance would confirm—and nowhere in sight. I figured that it was not truly necessary that I remain in the villagers' good graces so long as I did them no actual harm, to which the Avatar would be able to object.

My hand darted out like the sudden strike of a snake as I seized a very elderly woman by her arm, pulling her out of the grip of the girl clinging to her. "He'd be about this age," I pressed, allowing somewhat exaggerated impatience leak into my clipped tone. "Master of all the elements?"

They continue in their staring at me, silent except for the worrying of little children to their mothers, who held them close as if afraid I would snatch them too. I roughly returned the old woman to the girl's arms; as I did so, I saw relief and…and…_hatred_…mingle in an odd combination in her too blue eyes. I held her stare for a moment too long before my eyes moved on to the next peasant and the next. Now I could feel her glare attempting to bore holes into my armor.

I had to admit at this point that the villagers may not actually know where the Avatar was currently located. I knew only one person able to lie so effectively through only their silence, and if the Southern Water Tribe had been filled with twenty Azula-caliber liars, they would have achieved world domination long ago. Thus I concluded the blank stares were not lies but genuine ignorance. This worried me; they did not even seem to know of which individual I spoke, as none had noticeably responded to my description other than to cringe as I lay hands on the old woman.

Still, I was nothing if not thorough. I had been at sea for three years hunting, and I would not leave the possibility of the Avatar sitting here at the bottom of the earth and be on my merry way. I allowed myself one more chance to scare a hint of truth out of them before switching tactics.

"I know you are hiding him!" I all but roared, sending a wave of oppressive heat and brilliant flames right over the heads of the crowd. That elicited shrieks from the women and scared outcries from their children.

From behind me, I heard a loud, drawn out cry as the painted boy, who had lost most of his paint but retrieved his weapon, charged me again. I was astounded by the level of idiocy exhibited in announcing what may have succeeded as a stealth attack to the opponent. I easily dodged his attack and used his momentum to send him flying past me. To teach a lesson, even though I knew the dull savage would not understand it as such, I sent a bolt of fire chasing after him, purposefully aiming to miss. He rolled out of the way anyway and hurled a bent projectile at my head with surprising speed. I still dodged it.

A little urchin in the watching crowd had somehow given his mother the slip, as no woman in her right mind would have allowed him to toss a crude spear to the painted boy and shout at the extent of his high voice, "Show no fear!"

The painted boy apparently had no mother either, as no sensible woman rushed out of the crowd or cried out to him not to attack me again, which he did with tremendous show of bravery and foolishness. I brought my hand slicing upwards, shearing off the head of the spear with my metal wristguard. Purely for my own amusement, I continued in the same fashion down the spear; the savage's half-painted face was memorable and hilarious, although I never had been one to laugh out loud during combat. Even this counted as combat, I supposed.

I grabbed the remaining shaft of the spear out of the boy's hands and poked him firmly in the forehead with it a few times. He fell down, and I nonchalantly snapped the shaft and dropped the pieces on the icy ground. I owned this situation.

That is when my perfect, sweet control suddenly decided that it had become bored, and promptly left me.

From the ground, the boy stared up at me. I realized that his gaze was not on me but on the sky over my left shoulder just before something hard collided at a very high speed with the back of my helmet. I stumbled forward, surprised and off-balance, and my helmet shifted around my head until I was peering through my one good eye past the opposite side edge of my face mask.

The painted boy sniggered.

Glowering at him, I reached up one hand to right my helmet. Flames danced around my clenched fists as I towered over him. I had not yet decided whether or not to strike him down when I was abruptly swept off my feet by a colorfully clothed child riding a speeding penguin.

I had never claimed to know what forces governed the events of my life, but in that moment I felt as though they derived some extreme pleasure from constantly infuriating me.

The children in the crowd were cheering the new arrival as I jumped to my feet. I briefly caught sight of the Water Tribe girl, whose expression had transformed completely. Her glare of hatred forsaken, her eyes had lit as though she gazed upon her idol. I too turned to look at this pesky 'idol'.

He was an odd sight, unlike any person I had seen before, considerable in light of my global travels. The boy was a few years younger than me; I guessed his age to be eleven, possibly twelve, to my sixteen. He was completely bald, but there was a distinctive blue arrow tattooed over the dome of his head, the point in the middle of his forehead. His skin was much lighter than that of the tribespeople; that and his eccentric yellow-orange clothes assured me that he was not Water Tribe. He regarded me with guarded gray eyes as he moved the ornate wooden staff in his hands to point at me.

"Looking for me?" The boy-child's face was almost expressionless.

Mine was almost incredulous.

"_You're_ the airbender?" I practically spluttered, not really able to reconcile the notion with my preconceived expectations. "_You're_ the _Avatar_?"

"Aang?" the Water Tribe girl gasped—she apparently was not aware of her idol's identity.

"No way," the painted boy deadpanned from his position on the ground. I had been right—the villagers had been truly ignorant.

There was so much I could have said in that moment; a million different scenarios had played out in my mind over the last three years, but I was so startled and disbelieving that all I could say was, "How is this possible? You are just a child. The Avatar must be over a hundred years old by now."

"I," Aang began, his tone more questioning than explanatory, "I am the Avatar. I'm _that_ Avatar, who's over a hundred years old. I've been frozen in an iceberg for the last hundred years. Katara and Sokka"—he gestured to the girl and the painted boy—"accidentally found me a couple days ago. I…haven't been home in over a hundred years." He looked very unsettled at that thought.

My mind, which had been stuck in confusion a moment ago, now flew through dozens of possibilities. I came to the following realizations.

The Avatar was just a little kid—untrained, uncertain, alone, and most likely afraid.

If he had been out of the world for the last century, he didn't know about the war, or at least not much, considering he had only been with the tribe for a couple days.

The Avatar could not have learned enough to form a strong position against the Fire Nation.

The Avatar did not automatically regard me as his enemy.

There is little to be gained by making enemies. Ah, Uncle.

Channeling, as best I could, my inner Azula, I spoke, "Amazing. I would never have dreamed that this is where you've been. I have long awaited the day when I would finally get to meet you, Avatar." Internally gritting my teeth, I offered the child a respectful bow. This caused a murmur to go through the watching crowd and through my guards—it was not surprising that I had gotten stuck with a load of undisciplined idiots for a crew.

Out of courtesy, instinct, or habit, the boy returned the bow and the greeting. "But who are you?" he tacked on at the end.

"My name is Zuko," I said in what I intended to be a nonthreatening manner. "I am the crown prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne. I have long sought out the Avatar in hopes of renewing the diplomatic relations that once existed between my forefathers and your past incarnations. To that end, I wish to extend to you an invitation to join me on my ship for tea and discuss the possibility of your appearance before the Fire Nation court."

"What?" the painted boy—Sokka—interrupted loudly. "No way is he going anywhere with you! You're the enemy!"

"I assure you," I said sweetly, "that I mean you and your village no harm. Our ship is not deployed to war—we do not come looking for conflict. It was you who initiated violence between us."

I could tell that I had Aang at least halfway over to my side. It was fun, being the manipulator rather than the manipulated.

The girl, Katara, had glided over to Aang's side and was leaning down to whisper something in his ear. Her glare had returned in all of its former ferocity, but Aang did not turn to examine her face. He seemed to ask her a question in an undertone, and she instantly looked frustrated. She made one final statement to the Avatar before standing up straight and crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes like lightning as they drilled into me.

Aang again bowed. "I would be honored to accept your invitation." His face broke out in a smile as an idea seemed to occur to him. "Can Katara come too?" His excitement was palpable.

Katara's glare faltered under her surprise, and I met her temporarily unguarded eyes as I slowly replied, "I fear Katara might be bored by all our talk of politics. If Katara would like to come, however, she is welcome aboard my ship."

"Great!" crowed Aang.

"If you would be so kind," Katara hissed, "as to give us a little while to resettle the village after this little disaster, we would gladly join you for tea." The glare was back again. She had better cut it out, or that expression might become stuck on her face.

"Of course," I answered with the veiled falseness of a future politician. "In an hour, then?"

"Sure," said Aang, still smiling.

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**Author's Note: A friendly reminder to review, s'il vous plait, and let me know: (1) Did you like it? (2) Too long/too short for one chapter? (3) Any errors that make me look like a bad writer? (4) Is Zuko—or anyone else, for that matter—out of character? (5) Is this worth continuing?**

**Thanks for reading! :D**


	2. Prey Lured

**Author's Note: Thank you to everybody who has read this, and double thanks to everyone who took the time to review. I was so elated by your response that I was going to post this chapter last night, but I fell asleep while proofreading it. On the subject of updates, expect one every few days, because that's realistically how much time it takes me to write these. As always, feedback of any sort is welcome.**

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"Nope. No. Nada. Come again? Not happening. Never. Never _ever_."

Sokka was not enthusiastic about allowing his little girlfriend onto a Fire Navy ship, and he had apparently never been taught to keep his voice down, as I could hear him beginning a stream of negations from where I was passing through the entrance to my ship. I tuned him out, mostly; if he could actually change Aang's mind—which I doubted—then I would find out in an hour and pursue a different course of action.

The first thing I did once I was out of sight and earshot of the village was turn to the nearest guard and order him to find Uncle, bring him up to speed on what had transpired, and tell him to meet me in the captain's antechamber in twenty minutes, dressed for tea with important company. I then dispatched another to make necessary arrangements with the cook.

My next preparations raised the eyebrows of the guards receiving these orders: prepare a guest's chamber outfitted with every luxury we had onboard, and prepare a maximum security holding cell.

I was keeping my options open. One way or another, the Avatar would be coming with me.

I then withdrew to my room on board, where I removed my armor and came to the unexpected realization that I was missing my helmet. I must have left it sitting on the ground after Aang's dramatic entrance had knocked it off my head. I hadn't thought about it much, but that would have made my scar much more visible as I spoke to the Avatar.

And yet, he had not stared, as so many did. He did not scorn—ah, he did not _know_. Of course, he would have been the one person in the world who didn't know how the infamous prince had been shamed, burned, and banished. I wondered how long that ignorance would last, and what its end would do to my chances of keeping up this charade of friendliness and diplomacy. For a charade it was: the Father Lord would have no interest at all in Aang's cooperation, only in his removal from the playing field, the elimination of a potentially uncontainable threat.

I readied myself for entertaining company, something that I never engaged in willingly. I would definitely be taking cues from Uncle on how to act the gracious host. I put on some of my finest clothes, wanting to appear to be a legitimate prince. Also, looking my best was a sort of contingency preparation: when Azula manipulated, it was one part intimidation and two parts seduction. I would try what I considered to be fair play first, but if the girl proved difficult, the 'unintentional' charm would turn on and I would watch her fall. I had tried and succeeded with this tactic once before, and Katara, young and sheltered here as she was, would be even easier prey.

As pleased with my appearance in the mirror as I would ever be, I went to meet Uncle. Entering the room, I found him there, waiting for me.

"Interesting approach, Prince Zuko," he commented mildly. "I would not have expected it of you to invite the Avatar to tea." I knew that Uncle would have found the situation heart-warming if he weren't so suspicious of my plans now.

"I had not expected the Avatar to be a child," I returned, trying to stand still despite the nervous energy brought on by my finally having found the Avatar; I failed, succumbing to pacing before my Uncle. "What does it mean, Uncle? For the Fire Nation? For me?"

"It might yet be too soon to say for sure. I will tell you what I think once I have met the Avatar. What is the boy's name?"

"Aang," I supplied. "Our other guest is a Water Tribe girl named Katara; she looked at me as though she wanted to kill me."

"So you invited her to tea?"

"…Yes."

Uncle sighed. "This is sure to be an interesting day."

* * *

Half an hour later, I was standing again at the entrance to my ship, this time ready to greet my guests.

I had an extra guest. I almost scowled, but placed Azula's smile on my face instead.

"Ah, are you going to introduce these nice young people, Nephew?" Uncle asked me as I led the three of them in.

"Yes, of course. Uncle, this is Aang, the Avatar, and Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe."

Aang bowed courteously, a gesture which the other two did not mimic—stiff-necked savages.

"This is my uncle, General Iroh, Dragon of the West." They probably didn't even know what that title meant, but even an imbecile could figure out that it must be something impressive.

"Retired general," Uncle corrected amiably. "It is an honor to meet the Avatar and his friends."

Aang looked downright bashful. If I had ever been one to find children particularly cute, I would have found Aang cute for all the fact that he was practically grown out of childhood.

In perfect contrast, the Water Tribe kids were staring at Uncle with narrowed eyes. I saw rage and hatred again in Katara's eyes, and it was starting to unsettle me a little how automatically and liberally she applied her opposition to all things Fire Nation.

Uncle noticed, but would not be intimidated by a couple of peasant children. "We had not been expecting three," he said conversationally. "I'll see to it that we have another place set. How did we come to have this pleasure?"

"It was sort of a compromise," Aang explained.

"There was no way my little sister was going aboard a Fire Nation ship without anyone to protect her," Sokka elaborated. "Aang may still not understand it, but we're at war." No one would mistake Sokka to be a polite individual; he exuded sourness. "And I made a promise to our father when he left for war that I would protect her."

"An understandable sentiment," Uncle said empathetically. "You're more than welcome." Turning to Aang, he continued, "Your friends are not wrong in their caution—we have been at bitter war for the last century. However, we on this ship mean you no harm—don't be fooled by my nephew's bad behavior. Aggression is a flaw in his character."

This earned me three glances before Uncle engaged them again, gathering us all around the table and pouring tea. He was wonderful at polite chatter; I could not have done this negotiation without him to smooth it over.

As I listened in watchful silence as Aang described in detail his conveniently timed escape from the Southern Air Temple, I noticed that Sokka and Katara were no longer sporting mistrustful looks. Uncle had already started to win them over. He was good.

"I think you wise," Uncle was saying to Aang, "for being leery of holding too much power. With great power comes even greater responsibility, much too much to expect a twelve-year-old to bear. Even as an adult, I was not anxious to have power. I did not oppose the rather suspicious decision to give my brother my birthright. I had seen the particulars of being the Fire Lord, and I rarely ever looked forward to it." He looked at me. "What about you, Zuko? Do you want to be Fire Lord?"

I would have glared at Uncle for putting me on the spot like that if not for the curious stares locked on me. What could I say that would be the right thing to say? What would take this mistrust out of their eyes?

"I do," I said after considering for a moment. "I was born to be Fire Lord, and I have grown up with that knowledge. I have been away from the Fire Nation for a long time, and I miss it terribly. I miss life as a prince terribly; I want to go back." Admittedly not my best work, but I at least avoided putting my foot in my mouth.

"I am glad you brought that up," he said, and I knew where he was going with this. I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to go there just quite yet, and I hoped my cautioning look conveyed that. Uncle proceeded, "This is something we are very anxious to discuss with you. We are in somewhat of an uncomfortable situation, and perhaps the only person who can help is you, Avatar Aang."

"Sure," said Aang, curious. "What do you need me to do?"

Uncle wordlessly deferred Aang's inquisitive glance to me. I met the Avatar's eyes.

"Three years ago," I halted abruptly, switching to a less sensitive approach. "I was sent out to find the Avatar and bring him to the Fire Nation. My father so badly wants to meet you that it would be unwise of me to return without you. I have been away from home for three years and I desperately want to go back. Will you accompany me?"

Aang considered it for a moment. "Okay," he said at last, and I actually gave him a genuine smile. He probably couldn't tell the difference between a genuine smile and an Azula smile, but Uncle appreciated it. "But what does the Fire Lord want with me?"

"Probably nothing good." That was Sokka's skepticism. Katara's expression was guarded.

I chuckled in what I hoped to be a good-natured way. "My father merely wishes to establish diplomatic relations with you—you are an extremely significant world player of undeclared allegiance. I imagined he would want to make you his political ally, but now that I know you're just a kid…"

"Why would the Fire Lord need the Avatar as an ally?" Katara cut in. "You're not exactly at a disadvantage in this war."

"The validation of the Avatar," I continued to lie, "would allow the Fire Nation to initiate action to bring this war to an end, which I believe is in everyone's interests."

"We're not interested in losing!" Sokka objected, a possessive hand grasping Aang's shoulder.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because—" Katara cut herself off. She looked at them uncertainly. "I…don't know. What would it mean for the Southern Water Tribe if the Fire Nation won the war?"

"It would mean an end to the violence," Uncle said gravely. "Your father would come back home."

"But that's not it," Sokka conjectured.

"That's as far as it would directly impact your isolated little village," I said. "The rest is just politics—it's really beyond your sphere of understanding."

Sokka correctly read that as a slight, his eyebrows lowering in annoyance. He didn't have a comeback, and I watched him search for one for a moment before clamping his mouth shut and frowning in apparent concession.

I took some pride in my success in defending my fake political agenda. Neither Uncle's slightly disapproving frown nor the reality that I had only tricked children could take that away from me. I was simply too happy at the prospect of going home.

"But," added Aang, "I want to go home too. I haven't seen the Southern Air Temple in a hundred years, and I want to see my people. Could we stop there on the way?"

Internally, I rattled off a long line of cuss words I had learned from the crew over the years. Externally, my eyes widened, the scarred skin around my left eye pulling taut as it refused to open any further. Alarmed, Uncle looked to me, I looked to Katara, and Katara looked solemn.

"You didn't tell him?" I asked Katara.

"Tell me what?" Aang was a perfect picture of ignorance. As much as I didn't regret lying to him and betraying him into the hands of the Father Lord in order to achieve my own ends—for it was absolutely imperative that they be achieved—I felt wretched for having to disillusion him of his blissful unawareness.

"Your people aren't there anymore," Sokka said darkly.

"Why not?"

There was a silent struggle going on that moment between the four of us as we fought to make one of the others speak. My pleading look forced Uncle to concede.

"Avatar," came his gentlest voice, "The airbenders died out not long after you left them. The air temples are empty."

"That's why we were so shocked to see an airbender when we met you," Katara rapidly injected. "It's been generations since any have been seen."

I watched Aang's face—the painfully slow transition from shock to disbelief to horror. I had to look away at its inevitable crumpling.

"How?" Aang gasped. Hearing shifting, I looked up to see Katara wrap Aang in a hug, and I could not quite justify to myself the excessive magnitude of the gratitude I felt towards the girl in that moment.

"Murder," Sokka accused.

"War," I corrected.

"It was the Fire Nation," Katara whispered into the grieving Avatar's ear. My short-lived gratitude died.

Aang tensed up. As he slowly and deliberately turned his grief-contorted face to us, his eyes and tattoos began to glow.


	3. An Opportunity For Learning

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! Reviewer of the week is protagonist-m, who gives fabulous feedback that makes me smile. Just a reminder that reviews make me happy, and my happiness makes updates come quicker.**

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The Avatar was glowing. I didn't know what the glowing meant, but it really could not be good.

I saw a new emotion making its way to Aang's face: rage, mixing fluidly with the grief already predominant there. It was entirely unexpected of the benign little boy, and I felt the first stirrings of fear as I realized that the situation was now beyond my control.

"Aang?" Katara questioned, releasing him and shifting away. Her hair and clothes were starting to move in the suddenly dynamic air in the room.

The Avatar did not regard her. He _roared_ wordlessly at me. The artificial wind picked up, and objects started to fly. I ducked to avoid having my head knocked off by Uncle's teapot, which shattered against the wall behind me.

"Aang, _listen to me_!" Uncle shouted over the rising mayhem. "_We_ did not kill _any_ of the Air Nomads. They were gone long before I was born. Anyone who was involved is now either dead or ancient!"

Aang began to rise into the air.

"We are not your enemies!" I told him as I jumped up and reached up to take a restraining hold on his arm. Katara copied my motion, and together we pulled him back to the floor. Her arms went around the boy's shoulders, her mouth moving at his ear. I did not hear what she told him over the loud wind, but I noticed when the tension seemed to drain out of the airbender; the glowing faded, the cyclone slowed and stopped, and everything was jarringly still and quiet.

I met Katara's eyes over Aang's head, and she looked at me as though we were two exhausted parents who had finally managed to bring a child's violent temper tantrum to an end. It was a rather nice alternative to her death glare.

As Katara continued consoling the grieving Avatar, I catalogued the damage his little episode had caused. To be brief, everything not fixed down or extremely heavy had been picked up by the gale force and smashed against a wall. I was exceedingly glad that somebody else would be responsible for cleaning this disaster zone up. While attention was still on Aang, I discreetly waved away the guards that had silently appeared at the door, drawn by the noise. I think Sokka may have noticed them.

I was not particularly versed in consolation beyond the polite, obviously false comments of courtiers. I allowed Uncle to handle that.

Or not; Uncle was looking purposefully at me.

"I can't imagine," I began dryly, the Avatar still hiding his face in Katara's shoulder, "what it is like to lose your entire people so abruptly. But I do know loss. And I'm sorry that my forefathers brought about yours, Aang."

Aang straightened and faced me, lightly pushing Katara's arms away. He didn't meet my eyes as he said, "It's—not your fault." His shaky sigh sounded like it was not far away from a sob. "They would all be dead by now anyway."

I nodded, which he didn't see.

Aang looked around the destroyed room, his eyes avoiding the people within it.

"I'm sorry," he said about the mess.

"Don't worry over it," Uncle said.

Aang took great interest in his hands entwined in his lap, and he addressed them, "I still want to see my home."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Katara cautioned.

"I want to see…what's left. If there's anything left."

"We'll take you there," I offered. "But it's almost impossible to get into the air temples. Their structure only allows easy access to those who can fly in."

Sokka looked like he wanted to ask how I knew that, but Aang spoke first, "I've got that covered." A little smile appeared on his lips, and I thought it might have reached his eyes.

* * *

I was having a difficult time refraining from staring; eventually, I settled for just trying to keep my mouth closed as I stared.

Sokka called the behemoth before me a "giant snot monster." Aang called it "Appa." According to the Avatar, it was an air bison, and it could fly.

Beyond wondering whether or not it would actually fly, I was really curious about how it had grown an arrow in a different tone of fur onto its head. I asked Aang, but he didn't know.

I was not overly opposed to allowing Appa to stay on the main deck of my ship. Despite Sokka's complaints against his cleanliness, he seemed for the most part nonviolent and lethargic. My crew ceased to be alarmed by him as soon as the great creature ambled on board, flopped down on deck, and promptly went to sleep.

We stayed there one more day as Katara tried to convince Sokka and their grandmother to allow her to accompany Aang. She wanted to see an air temple; she had an adventurous spirit, one not suited to life in a tiny, isolated community built on frigid nothingness. I could understand that.

Eventually, their grandmother's conditional consent was given, which I had not expected. It took Uncle's best brew of tea and a considerable amount of pleading on Katara's part, but she eventually allowed the excursion on a number of conditions. Sokka had to go with her to protect her. She was not to fraternize with the enemy. She was not to tell her father about this. After seeing the air temple, she had to come straight back to the South Pole.

This last part posed a slight issue for me. Even more so than detouring to the air temple, returning to the South Pole was counterproductive to my agenda. The more I delayed bringing the Avatar to the Father Lord, the more opportunity for something to go wrong and for me to lose my chance at regaining my honor. Beyond that, my ship was not a pleasure vessel to be employed with ferrying sightseers around as they pleased—it's a disengaged warship, what was she thinking?

But I knew what she was thinking: she was so desperate for a taste of life beyond confinement that she would want to journey on an _enemy_ ship, taking on all the risks that entails, just to see some ruins with her friend. It was perfectly understandable insanity, which might make it sane after all.

When we did set out on course for the Southern Air Temple, along with a child Avatar, two semi-hostile teenage Water Tribe peasants, and one giant sleepy air bison, I expected to feel some sense of accomplishment for actually talking the quarry into coming willingly with its hunter. It was a feat worthy of Azula, but I was somehow lacking the satisfaction that seemed to be the consistent outcome of her manipulatory exploits. I ended up chalking my slightly apprehensive feeling up to the possibility that something still might go wrong.

As my ship was not a pleasure vessel, I had to scramble a bit to make accommodations for the extra guests. I would be sharing Uncle's chamber, and Aang and Sokka would be sharing mine, with Katara in the one I had initially prepared for the Avatar. The holding cell was still available, and for all I desired to stick Sokka in it, I had to bend over backwards to keep the Avatar happy if I wanted his continued cooperation. Under different circumstances, I would have exhibited much more petulance than my current charade now allowed for. I had to share a room with _Uncle_, and he _snored_.

The journey to the Southern Air Temple was about two days by sea, and I had no intention of letting those two days slide by unused. It was the very first afternoon of the voyage when I found myself lurking within the shadows of an air vent that led into what had previously been my room. My three young guests were gathered inside.

"Aang, I don't like this," Sokka was saying.

"I know, but I think it would at least be worthwhile for me to hear what the Fire Lord has to say. Besides, if I don't go, he might be mad, and I don't want to make any enemies."

"We're at war!" Sokka protested. "You _have_ to have enemies!"

"Aang," Katara reasoned, "I know Zuko said you're undeclared, but think about it: the Fire Nation attacked the Air Nomads to begin the war. As an airbender, you have to be against the Fire Nation. Besides that, as the Avatar, you have to see that they're the ones upsetting the world's balance, which it is your job to prevent."

"But Zuko said that the Fire Lord wants to end the war," Aang reasoned back. "That's what the Avatar should want, right? The end of the war?"

"Well, yeah," said Sokka, "But if the Fire Nation are the ones to end the war on their terms, it may be a complete takeover."

"Zuko said it wouldn't be."

"Zuko didn't mention anything other than an end to the fighting. He didn't talk about what would happen to the world beyond our village."

"Well, if he didn't say, then we don't know that it would be bad!"

"But—"

"Katara," Aang cut him off, "Didn't you say that the Fire Nation wasn't at a disadvantage in the war? That they didn't need the Avatar in order to win it?"

"Yes."

"Then why, if they were just interested in taking over, would they even bother with me? They want me for _validation_—so that their actions can look legitimate to the other nations! That means that they really do want peace, if they're making the effort to play up to the standards of the rest of the world."

I was beginning to think that I had underestimated Aang. He was a child, but he understood an awful lot of the implications of what I had said, more than the other two had picked up on. He just didn't realize that it was all lies, that the Father Lord would rather exterminate the other nations than try to kiss up to them.

"That just seems…" Katara began.

"Suspicious," Sokka suggested.

"Unrealistic," Katara finished. "The Fire Nation isn't like that."

"How would you know that?" Aang questioned. "I bet you haven't even met a firebender before."

"You're wrong," Katara said icily. I was certain that there was something there, and I was sure Aang would press her to elaborate and alleviate my curiosity.

"Then when—" Aang was interrupted by a knock on the door. A servant informed them that it was time for tea, and I silently cursed myself for timing this poorly. I moved as they were moving so that any noise I might make wouldn't be noticed, and I crept back out of the vent the way I had come, running around to meet up with them and Uncle for tea.

I had to pretend to be sociable for a little while, carefully avoiding any subjects too political. It wasn't hard, as every other person at the table was inclined enough to chatter that I had to contribute very little. Uncle was delighted to learn that Aang knew how to play Pai Sho, and we were soon to be subjected to watching their game. It was especially slow, as they tried to explain the game to Sokka, who was not quick to pick up on it. He wanted a microanalysis of not just the rules but the strategy, and I could see that Katara was as mind-numbingly bored as I was. When she pleaded fatigue and begged leave to return to her room, I offered to escort her.

"Not a fan of Pai Sho?" I asked as the door closed behind us.

Katara shrugged. "It's not the game. It's Sokka making the game too tiresome. Do you play?"

"Only if Uncle can convince me to, which is not often. I don't have the patience for such a long game."

"Hmm," Katara replied noncommittally.

I decided that I might as well take this chance to do some digging for information.

"Not a fan of the Fire Nation, are you?" This question was much less conversational.

"No, I'm not. Why would I be?"

"Oh, you shouldn't be; I'm not a fan of the Water Tribes. However, you seem to have an especially fervent hatred for my people—you haven't been discreet about it. Why is that so?"

"It's none of your business."

"I think it is, as it concerns me that you keep fixing me with hateful glares. It's rude, and I don't think I've done anything to you to earn _that_ much resentment."

We had reached her room by that point, and she stopped and turned to face me rather than go inside. "The Fire Nation is evil—they kill without consequence. Every bit of my hatred has been earned ten times over. And you're no different—you're the Fire Lord's son, and spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood! So forgive me if I don't seem too anxious to be your friend. Good evening." She opened the door and went inside. My foot prevented it from closing.

"Hold up," I protested. "We're in a war; both sides are doing plenty of killing. I know some of my own people who have died at the hands of the enemy in this war."

Katara didn't respond right away. She had stopped a few feet into her room, her back to me.

"Katara," I said more quietly. "Please explain to me why you hate me so much. I don't understand. I don't hate you." It was coercion, but it was true: I didn't hate her. My main issue with her was that she kept glaring at me. That, and she was complicating my plans, but that wasn't really a flaw in her character so much as a particularity of circumstance.

Katara didn't turn to look at me as she spoke, and I had to come a couple steps closer to catch her almost-whispered words: "Six years ago, our village was raided by the Fire Nation."

I had suspected something along those lines; she had told Aang that she had encountered firebenders before.

"I remember that day so perfectly. The sky was very blue and there were hardly any clouds. Sokka and I were having a snowball fight." She chuckled quietly, making it a sad sound. "I had just hit Sokka full in the face with a snowball and I was giggling as he was gathering up an even bigger one to throw back at me. I didn't know why he suddenly dropped it until I too looked up to stare at the sky.

"The snow, which had very suddenly started drifting down, was black. Some of the adults in our village had seen the black snow before, so we knew what it meant. I have never been so scared in all my life as I was then."

I had come close enough to her to see her trembling hands. Stepping next to her, I saw that her eyes were closed and there were thin, shining streams of tears on her cheeks. I had absolutely no idea what to do for a crying girl, but thankfully I didn't have to, as she continued after a shuddering breath.

"I told him that I was going to find our mother. Then I—I—I—"

Apparently, that was her breaking point, as she started crying in earnest now, delicate hands coming up to cover her face. She let me guide her to a chair, and I sat across from her, waiting.

I had a hard time judging how much time it actually was before her breathing slowed and quieted and her hands came away from her face. She took the handkerchief I held out with a subdued, "Thank you," and proceeded to dry her red eyes.

"I ran into the village, passing warriors who were running the other way. Everything was so loud, everyone shouting and running, kids screaming. I remember the blue cloth under my hand as I pulled back the door to our home.

"There was a man inside, standing between me and my mother. She was kneeling at his feet. They both turned to look at me when I came in.

"'Just let her go,' she begged him, 'and I'll give you the information that you want.' And then he looked at me—I'll never forget the face under that helmet—and barked, 'You heard your mother, get out of here!'

"I was too frightened to do that; I wanted my mother. 'Mom, I'm scared,' I said."

Katara's voice had grown very unsteady again, and I was afraid that I was going to see more sobbing. Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, and she reached up not to wipe them away but to clutch the charm on her necklace before going on.

"She told me to go find my dad, that she would handle this." Wet blue eyes shut, and a sharp intake of breath preceded her saying, "I ran as fast as I could to find my father. But we were too late. When we got there, the man was gone." Another breath, and Katara's fragile composure completely fell apart as she finished, "And so was she."

I let her cry. I knew that she wouldn't be receptive of any condolences I would give, and I didn't really know how to give them anyway.

After she had run out of tears and gradually fell silent, I felt as though I had to say _something_. I tried to imagine what Uncle would say in this situation.

"Your mother was a brave woman," I settled upon.

"I know."

"It's wrong that the war took her away from you."

"I know."

"It's something we have in common."

She looked at me in surprise. "What?"

"I lost my mother because of the war too."

"Oh." A pause, in which she looked equal parts disbelieving and curious. "I'm sorry."

I did not want to talk about this, but I didn't see a scenario in which I could avoid it and yet still keep her belief and sympathy.

"It's a long story, actually," I stalled.

"We have time."

I sighed. "I suppose it all started when my cousin died," I began slowly. "My uncle, you see, had a son named Lu Ten, who was several years older than me. When I was still a kid, he was already fighting in the war. He died in combat, and my uncle was devastated.

"Uncle had been holding the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se under siege at the time he received the news. He abandoned the siege, a huge tactical set-back for the Fire Nation. While my uncle grieved, back at home in the Fire Nation, my father sought to take advantage of Uncle's precarious situation. He went to my grandfather Azulon, who was Fire Lord at the time, and asked him for Uncle's birthright. His son was dead, his line was ended, and he lacked the hard determination needed to be ruler in a time of war.

"Grandfather was furious with my father, that he would ask him to betray his firstborn son so soon after the demise of his only child. I was hiding behind a curtain while they were talking, and I heard Grandfather say that Iroh had suffered enough, but that my father's suffering was yet to begin.

"I had snuck away after hearing that, so the rest is unfortunately secondhand from my sister. She's…" I looked up, as though the ceiling would give me a word to adequately describe Azula. "A filthy liar. But I think she might not have been totally false with me about this—the truth was too much to her liking to distort it.

"The next morning, I was awakened by her singing cheerfully, 'Dad's going to kill you!' She said that Grandfather had decreed that my father's punishment must fit his crime, that he must learn the pain of losing a firstborn son by sacrificing his own."

Katara's eyes had gone appropriately wide at this. "Wait, what? Your grandfather didn't really—"

"I don't know," I admitted. "But given what happened next, I think he did."

I had the Water Tribe girl completely enraptured in the sad drama of my family. At least it had succeeded in putting her own unhappy history out of her head.

"When I was asleep that night, someone entered my room and sat on the edge of my bed, gently shaking me awake. It was my mother, wearing a dark cloak that I had never seen on her before. She spoke to me with great urgency, but my sleepy mind didn't make the connection at the time that it was a goodbye.

"The next morning, my grandfather had been found dead. My mother was missing. My father was crowned Fire Lord, as per my grandfather's alleged 'dying wish'. Nothing came of the supposed order to kill me."

"Whoa. I'm sorry, but…I don't really think I understand what happened."

"What I told you is all I really know; the rest is guesswork. If I was able to come to the conclusion I came to with just that, you should be able to do the same. I would like to leave this subject."

"Alright."

She didn't say anything else straight away, but she looked at me with a degree of curiosity, and I tried to guess what was on her mind. I was unsuccessful, until a flick of her eyes betrayed her. Of course she wasn't saying anything—nobody ever was quite brave enough to ask outright about the scar.

"What?" I challenged when she accidently slipped into staring.

She blushed, looking away. "Nothing."

"You can ask me whatever it is that is bothering you," I prompted, just for the sake of making her uncomfortable. I hated when people stared.

"Er," she hedged, "I don't really—I'm sorry, I mean…"

I frowned at her. "Stop. It doesn't matter." I stood, looked down at her, and said with practiced courtesy, "I trust you are well, so I will take my leave. Good evening."

"Good evening," she hastily returned, getting up and following me to the door. "Thanks for…um…"

"Sure."

The door closed behind me.

* * *

**By the way, readers, it may interest you to know that I am no longer the creative force behind this story; the characters are, and they are the ones you should hold responsible for this monstrously long chapter. The entire exchange at the end was completely unscripted: I had planned "Oh, I should have Aang and Iroh play Pai Sho, what great filler!" but apparently Zuko decided he wanted to talk to Katara. *shrug* If it means that much to you, Zuzu, then whatever. I'll just put you down as a coauthor.**


	4. Restless Night

**Author's Note: Hi, people. I'm not dead, but I have had a very involved week or two—life happens, sorry for the delay. If I do die unexpectedly, I apologize in advance for the unexplained cease in updates. Enjoy the chapter, the next one *hopefully* won't be such a long wait.**

* * *

The lighting in my nightmare was shockingly bright. There were no shadows anywhere.

I was running, stumbling really, too slowly through solid black snow, my feet unable to find enough purchase. The chaos around me was muted, although I could still see the faceless villagers screaming.

It was nothing like my own memories of the Water Tribe village—instead of a neat semicircle of tent-like structures, I was running through a labyrinth of blackened, tattered, empty, burned out homes. I was terrified, but I didn't know of what.

My lungs were burning, and my legs ached with exertion. Black-stained snow was falling around me, steadily dyeing my clothes and skin an ashy gray.

I reached my destination, though I hadn't had one in mind, and hastily pushed my way inside. The inside was filled with a flat light that somehow didn't touched the man-shaped shadow facing away from me, and I was too distracted by this indistinct figure to more than glance at the woman on the ground at his feet.

Neither regarded me when I came in. "Excuse me," I tried to say, but no sound came out of my mouth. I came closer, moving around the shadow man to try to get a look at his face; before I could, I caught sight of the woman's face, and I was hit with a mixture of love and fearful apprehension.

It was my mother.

"Don't hurt him, don't hurt him please, please, don't hurt him…" she begged the shadow, not acknowledging me.

The shadow very deliberately raised a hand, and a ball of bright orange fire appeared in his palm. The light drove the shadows off his figure, but I still could not see his face past the brightness of the fire.

Mother's eyes had gone wide, but she set her countenance firmly and ordered, "I will always be watching—don't you dare hurt him!"

A torrent of fire erupted from the man's hand and engulfed my mother, who let out a bloodcurdling shriek, the sound intensifying until my ears refused to pick it up any longer and a blank, whining non-noise was all I could hear. I threw myself against the man's arm, trying to turn his fire away, but he reacted as if I weighed nothing, simply ignoring me. I watched, transfixed in horror, as a charred, blackened corpse gradually replaced the familiar image of my mother.

When the fire had done all it would do, it died down to a small tongue of flame in the man's hand, and he roughly shoved me to the ground.

"Wait, what're you—?" I tried to say, but the thought cut off as I looked up and was finally able to see the man's face. All of a sudden, it was a much more familiar nightmare.

"You will learn respect," he hissed. "And suffering will be your teacher!"

He struck.

* * *

I woke screaming, clutching the left side of my face as my flesh blistered under the terrible heat. I was covered in cold sweat, my legs tangled in my bedding. I had bolted straight up out of my uneasy sleep and now sat looking at a tired, worried Uncle steadily regarding me from across the room.

"Are you alright, Prince Zuko?"

"Yeah, yeah, just a—just a nightmare," I gasped, rising.

"Where are you going?" he inquired.

"Fresh air," I said as I threw a cloak on over my nightclothes and slid shoes onto my feet.

"Do you want company?"

"No."

I heard a sigh as I was going out the door. I didn't mean to slam it behind me.

The torchlight in the corridors of the ship wasn't much better than the lighting of my nightmare. I almost ran through them, relieved when I finally emerged onto the deck. Still very far south, the air was cold and thin, but the view of the stars was spectacular; it wasn't something I had been much bothered to notice back at home amidst the lights of a lively capital city.

I saw Appa asleep near the ship's bow, and I tiptoed around him so that I could watch where we were going. The air temple was still a long way off, but this particular vantage afforded less view of all the problems aboard my ship and more of the celestial light reflecting off the water.

I decided not to think about my nightmare beyond questioning why the normal dreams faded quickly and the horrific ones never did. I suspected the answer, but decided it wasn't good to dwell on.

Reality was…hard. It seemed that it always had been, and that it would all be so much easier if I could just live the rest of my life here, under the stars.

It would be easy as…easy as giving up.

_That's who you are, Zuko: someone who keeps fighting even though it's hard._

_That's who you are…_

_Who you are…_

_Never forget who you are._

_Remember this, Zuko: no matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are._

_Zuko, my love, listen to me._

_Remember this, Zuko._

_Remember._

_Never forget who you are._

"I won't," I whispered to the phantom in my memory.

"You won't what?" a voice asked from behind me.

"Gah!" I nearly jumped overboard. I turned to see the Avatar, reclined on the nearest of his bison's forelegs. "Aang, what're you doing out here? It's the middle of the night!"

"I was sleeping, but I missed Appa, so I came out to visit."

"Oh. Alright."

"What are _you_ doing out here?"

Why lie? Real trust was hard to build on nothing but lies, and a faltering in his trust would be devastation to my agenda. "I had a nightmare."

"What about?"

"The past." I was feeling extraordinarily vocal tonight.

"I've been having nightmares about the past too," Aang admitted, looking down. I could see a person who definitely had his demons.

"I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" Because that was what Uncle always asked.

"Not really. You?"

"No."

Aang's eyes slid shut, and his head dropped to the white pillow of his bison's fur. "Zuko," he asked haltingly, "What does the world think of me?"

"They don't know you yet, Aang."

"But what do they think of the Avatar? What do they expect of me?"

"I can't speak for the whole world, but from what I've heard, a large number of people believe the Avatar is dead. They expect never to meet you."

"Why did you look for me then, if everyone thought I was dead?"

"It was my commission to find you and bring you back to the Fire Nation," I explained. "I looked for you for three years without anything to show for it; it was hopeless, and a part of me knew it was hopeless. I only kept looking because I had to—my honor as a prince hung in the balance."

"Well, I'm glad I could help," Aang said, smiling. He nestled further into the fur, looking remarkably young for a hundred-and-twelve-year-old.

And…there was the guilt. The betrayal of Aang might very well make me a terrible person, but what choice did I have? And why was I even subject to the rules of decency that governed the world, when the world had so clearly and adamantly rejected me? When the Father Lord and his predecessors had been allowed to exempt themselves? When my sister ignored the rules entirely and never received a whisper of reprimand?

I felt as though it had something to do with Uncle.

By right, I should be able to create my own standards by which to judge myself, which will include a clause allowing for the coldhearted betrayal of friendly, trusting children when personal honor demands it. Because I could do that, and my decision to allow it made it right—just like my forefathers, I would place myself above the rules.

I was right. I could not be wrong—I made the rules. I was the Fire Lord-to-be.

...It wasn't right. I just couldn't lie to myself that effectively.

"Zuko," Aang asked around a giant yawn, "What do you think of me?"

My response was automatic, but my delivery was perfect, learned from the best. "I believe you to be one of the most vitally important people to the world; as the Avatar—"

"No," he interrupted me. "You've told me what you think of the Avatar. What do you think of me?"

I paused a beat. Azula would…no…Uncle would say…

"I don't know you that well, but I think you're a great kid. You have patience, amity, and a sense of accountability that I didn't possess at your age. You're bright—you are quick to comprehend and ask meaningful questions."

Aang's smiling gray eyes peeked out at me from under eyelids heavy with sleepiness.

"Hmm…Uncle likes you because you like Pai Sho."

His eyes drifted shut.

"Sokka likes you because you're a boy close to his age who is receptive to his advising—the other 'warrior boys' of the Southern Water Tribe had been about four years old. He finally has a peer who isn't his sister."

Aang might have been asleep at that point, but I obviously hadn't said all.

"You do know that she loves you—idolizes you even? It's because you are the source of her hope. The world isn't kind to her as it is; one way or another, she's lost both parents to this war. She's stuck in indefinite isolation in a community with no peers and no adventure. She has lived in fear for the safety of her remaining loved ones. You are new, different, exciting, and she believes that you can change the world, make it a better place for confined little Water Tribe girls. Why wouldn't she love you?"

Just as I was starting to ramble, I noticed that the young Avatar had indeed succumbed to sleep.

It wasn't right, but I was still going to do it—I had to. I decided right then and there, as I watched the airbender asleep on his bison, that I would see this through and dwell no more upon the rightness or wrongness of an inarguably necessary course of action.

I watched the Avatar for a moment and sighed. I had come out here to clear my head, and that endeavor had failed entirely. Taking one last lingering look at the distant stars, I returned to the warmth of my bed and sleeplessly awaited the morning.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! :D**


	5. The Southern Air Temple - Part 1

**Author's Note: Hi. Dearest readers, I am going to inform you of some true awesomeness. One of my reviewers for this fic recommended me to a masterpiece entitled "What Should Have Happened in ATLA." It's really long, but if you're looking for something hilarious and brilliant to read, go find it. I particularly enjoyed chapter 63. My sincerest thanks to Leviticus Wilkes for the recommendation!**

**On another note, I would like to acknowledge to you the absolutely terrible job I've been doing at keeping with regular updates. As much as I would like to fulfill that "I'll update every few days" promise, I probably won't—my original excitement over this story is still alive, but I've gotten to the point where I actually want to take the time to plot it out and write it well. So…probably one or two a week, unless I come by a sudden expanse of free time.**

**On yet another note (last one, I promise), I'm going to start going back and adding chapter titles. You'll see the boring, generic "Chapter One" and "Chapter Two" be replaced with "Something Interesting" and "Something Relevant".**

**Enjoy this chapter! R&R!**

* * *

I doubted that the bison was actually going to fly.

Of course, I had seen air temples before, and there was plentiful evidence for their possessing large numbers of the flying beasts. However, looking at Appa, I could not understand how it was supposed to get off the ground. It didn't have wings. It didn't look like it had very strong jumping legs. It looked extremely heavy. Most of the animals I knew of that could fly were the reverse.

I kept my doubts to myself, as Sokka was doing a good job voicing them for me.

"Flying bison, ha! Behold Katara, my flying sister!"

"Shut up, Sokka," the flying sister in question quipped from where the Avatar was showing her how to adjust Appa's saddle.

"Really, I'm telling you, he flies!" the Avatar insisted again. "Right, buddy?"

"MMMRRRRROOOORRRMMM," Appa confirmed.

It was a little past noon; the mountains that concealed the Southern Air Temple had come within sight about a half hour ago. The four of us—Uncle had elected to stay with the ship, apparently less than enamored by the idea of flying—and two escort guards were preparing for the flight up to the temple.

Aang was a mixture of excitement and wariness. The rest of us were just wary. We all knew what he would likely see up there, and none of us particularly looked forward to another glowing-and-windstorm incident.

"Sokka," I called quietly, walking away from the air bison and beckoning for the loud peasant to follow me. I took him out of earshot of our younger companions.

"What is it?" he inquired unsmilingly, picking up on my mood. The Water Tribe boy still did not like me, and I was still not fond of him, but we had reached a state of mutual tolerance.

"The Fire Nation is not particularly inclined to clean up the messes left in its wake," I alluded.

"And he shouldn't see them," Sokka concluded. "We shouldn't be going up there—he'll just freak out again and blow us all off the mountain."

"That's exactly what worries me," I confirmed. "But I do have a plan."

Sokka raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"First, we need to limit what he sees. Where in the temple would there have been no fighting, where there would now be no evidence of conflict?"

"I dunno…I haven't exactly been to an air temple before or seen a battle fought at one."

"I would guess that the higher levels would probably be safest in that respect. We can ask Aang about the layout and then ask to see somewhere out of the way. We'll distract him there for a while, and I'll have my guards leave us and run as rapid a cleanup effort as they can."

"But only two are coming!" Sokka objected. "Two people can't 'clean up' the whole temple in such a short time."

"I know," I admitted. "They'll do their best and hopefully decrease our chances of stumbling over too many skulls. The more we can distract him, and the sooner we can persuade him to leave, the better off we'll all be."

"Alright," said Sokka, looking past me to where his sister and the Avatar were perched atop the bison's head, affectionately running hands over its arrow. "Should we tell Katara?"

"Can she conceal our efforts from Aang?"

"Hmm. Maybe not. She'll probably look at him with her big sad eyes and get all emotional. I hate when girls do that."

"Same here."

"Huh." Sokka made a show of scrutinizing my purposefully unexpressive countenance. "You know, for a Fire Nation prince, you're not too bad a guy." He said so completely unabashedly, apparently intending that as a compliment.

I decided to take it as such. I nodded my thanks and walked back towards the bison. The Avatar reached down a hand to help me into the saddle, aid which I accepted without fuss.

I still didn't believe this thing was going to fly. _It had no wings_.

The saddle was roomy enough for all of us to sit comfortably. The Avatar took his position on the bison's head, reigns in hand, leaving me in the company of my two uniformed guards and the Water Tribe siblings.

"All set back there?" Aang called over his shoulder.

"All good!" Katara called back. She was nearly bursting with excitement, holding on tightly to the side of the saddle as though she really expected us to soon be airborne.

"Then hang on tight! Appa, yip yip!"

The bison lowed, sending vibrations throughout its frame, which we on its back could feel only too well. It made no indication of being about to take off into the sky.

"Come on, buddy, don't you want to go home?" the Avatar encouraged. "Appa, yip yip!"

Just as I was starting to wonder how long we would have to go through this before Aang gave it up, I was nearly thrown out of the saddle by the abruptness of the giant creature's leap into the air. By the time I had comprehended what had happened, my ship had become no more than a black smudge far behind and below us.

"He's flying! He's flying!" Sokka crowed, astounded. "He's actually—" Catching his sister's smug look, he shrugged and finished nonchalantly, "Big deal. He's flying."

I was unsure of my feelings towards flying. It was entirely new, and I supposed it was practical enough as a method of transportation, seeing as Appa was greatly outdistancing my ship, which made decent time in its own right. However, I wouldn't lie and say that it wasn't unsettling being this far up in the insubstantial sky. It was also much colder up here and a little harder to breathe. I would have lit a warm little fire, if not for the anticipated objection of my rather anti-firebender companions.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked the Water Tribe teens as my guards and I shivered.

They looked at each other and shrugged. "Not particularly," Katara said.

"It's much colder at the South Pole," Sokka added. "Especially in the winter."

"Doesn't it ever get this cold in the Fire Nation?" Katara inquired.

"No, never," I said, barely managing to keep my teeth from chattering. "It's always really hot there, even at night and while it rains."

"Huh," I heard from Katara, "I've never seen rain."

I did not have a response to this. However, I did not think it fair or appropriate that I was this cold while they were not, so the tongue of flame that appeared out of my mouth was entirely justified. As I did this little bit of bending, the fire that sat dormant in the core of my belly grew and spread to warm up my whole body.

I was watched by two obviously scandalized faces. I waited for them to say something, and Sokka even opened his mouth as if to do so, but he snapped it shut again and offered no comment.

"Let me know if you get cold," I added cheerfully, exhaling more fire. Steam rose around my head before dissipating into the air. There wasn't much more chatter, as we were getting close and engaged ourselves in watching for the first glimpses of the Southern Air Temple between the peaks of the mountains.

* * *

"Hey, Aang," Sokka called to the airbender perched on the bison's head, "Where is your room?"

"Around the back, around halfway up—wanna see it?"

"Yeah!" Katara piped up.

Sokka glanced at me, and I nodded—it would be as good a place as any to start.

"Alright then, we'll go there first," he said.

I nodded to the guards; they knew their orders.

Appa landed on a wide ledge that I conjectured was designed with that purpose in mind. I was glad when my feet contacted the ground again, and also glad that it was far less windy here, although I was still cold and breathless up on the mountaintop.

I had been to this temple once before, the four air temples having been the first places I checked in my search for the Avatar. However, I had not taken much time to see the details of the airbenders' mountaintop dwelling after it became apparent it was currently uninhabited. I did not remember this insignificant place.

"Hey, where are they going?" Katara asked, pointing to the receding figures of my guards.

"They have not seen an air temple before," I lied. "Upon their request, I gave them permission to explore. I would think that they did not find this residential portion particularly fascinating and went in pursuit of a more interesting view."

I followed the Avatar inside, and my eyes were met by a dusty, cluttered room. Aang looked around slowly, the cracks in the walls and ceiling letting shafts of light fall upon him. His expression was blank at the moment, although something was no doubt stirring beneath the calm surface.

"Is this it?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah," Aang said with some surprise in his voice. "This is my room." He looked at Sokka helplessly. "It's true, isn't it? It really has been a hundred years!"

Katara rushed over to the increasingly distraught airbender, murmuring comforts as she encased him in her arms. I thought her an extremely motherly type. As the thought crossed my mind, I realized that it made sense, given that she had been the only female in her household for many years—she probably assumed that role long ago. I could easily imagine her nagging and affectionately cleaning up after her noisy brother.

When it was clear that we weren't about to suffer another glowing disaster, I began asking innocuous questions about life at the air temple: _How many people lived there? Did they each have a flying bison? When did you get Appa? When did you get those tattoos? Was learning airbending difficult? What was your schedule like? What did you do in your free time?_ Sokka, who understood my intent, soon joined me, followed by a genuinely curious Katara. I noted the movement of the sun in the sky, trying to gauge how much time we had passed and how much my men would have been able to accomplish in that time.

At length, our questions ran out, and Aang said, "Wow! We've been here for a really long time! Come on, I'll show you the rest of the temple!" He led the way out of his former bedroom.

The shadows were lengthening, casting long shadows where there was sufficient light to see by and leaving large expanses of space in darkness. I had not given Uncle a specific time to anticipate our return, but I suspected he would begin expecting us soon. I voiced that we could not spend all night here, and ought to pick up our pace.

"Alright," said the Avatar. "Hey! Did you see that?"

"See what?" Katara asked as Sokka rapidly searched for what Aang had seen.

"There!" Aang pointed to a small white and brown creature disappearing around a corner. He was running after it before any of us could even ask what it was. By the time my mind had caught up enough to produce the thought that I ought to go after him, he already had a considerable head start and was running like an airbender.

The three of us ran after him nevertheless, calling after the airbender, but he had gone out of sight in the labyrinth of crumbling stone hallways. We reached a juncture where we did not know which way he had gone.

"Aang!" Katara's call echoed a little, but no reply came. "What do we do now?"

"I think we should go this way," Sokka said, pointing down a corridor to the left.

"Why?"

"It's what my instincts are telling me."

Instincts. Well, why not? We didn't have much else to go on.

"Come on, then," I ordered. "There's nothing to gain by standing around."

We took off at a light run down the corridor, and had made it about twenty yards before the floor crumbled away underneath our feet.

And we were falling.

Our screams were almost drowned out by the sound of the blocks of stone crashing down around us as our fall came to an abrupt halt. It was, to say the least, not a comfortable landing. I was in shock for a moment, trying to process what had just happened.

"Well, that was unexpected," Sokka stated. I couldn't see him, or Katara for that matter, as wherever we had landed was very dark.

"Is everybody alright?" Katara's worried voice came from somewhere to his right.

"Yep. Spectacular," her brother said sarcastically.

It was just as I was about to respond to her that I was fine that I realized with immense displeasure that I was not actually fine. It seemed that there was a very large chunk of air temple structure currently resting upon my right leg, which commenced screaming at me as soon as I gave it thought.

"Zuko?"

I made a sound that was probably somewhere between a gasp and a groan—it wasn't a pretty sound. I heard them start to move at that, probably feeling their way to find me in the dark. It was then that I had the presence of mind to give them a little light, but the flames that I called to my hand took a surprising amount of effort to hold there.

Two moderately concerned and dust-covered faces soon appeared at the edge of the circle of light.

"What is it?" Katara asked.

"My leg," I ground out between my teeth. Could she really not see that?

"Alright, try not to move too much. Sokka and I will move that off of you."

I really hadn't been planning on moving anyway. Ridiculous girl.

It took them a long time and quite a bit of complaining on Sokka's part to free me. "Ugh, that was heavy."

"You don't say!" I bit out.

Katara was brushing the dust off of her hands as she knelt beside me to peer at my probably crushed-beyond-repair limb. That was how it felt at least.

"Can you move it at all?" she asked.

I tried, and I immediately regretted it. Everything went dark, and I thought I had passed out until Sokka asked me to turn the lights back on, if it wasn't too much trouble. I unclenched my fist slowly, trying to keep quiet about the pain I was in, and returned the fire to my palm.

"Well, my experience would tell me that if you can't move it, you can't walk on it either."

Katara had risen to a new height of brilliance—or perhaps I was just being ungenerous due to my less-than-blissful state.

"We need…to get…back…to my ship."

"Yeah," Sokka agreed. "One problem with that: I have no clue where we are."


	6. The Southern Air Temple - Part 2

**Author's Note: Hey guys, in the thirty seconds between my finishing this chapter and actually posting it, I found out that my close friend's mom died unexpectedly on Sunday. I'm claiming relevancy on the grounds of all of our main characters being without one or more of their parents. Anyway, she and her younger brother have now lost both their parents, so please send them a prayer if you so believe.**

**Thanks, **

**Speed of Darkness**

* * *

Three things needed to happen, and they needed to happen fast.

First, we needed to find Aang. As I was particularly invested in his presence and well-being, I didn't like having him out of my sight in some unknown location in a structurally unsound ruin of an air temple that contained lots of sights that would cause him to throw a violent grief fit. That, and we couldn't really leave without him, as Katara and Sokka wouldn't allow it, and none of us knew how to fly Appa.

Second, I needed to get back to my ship. My leg _hurt_. It hurt so bad. My capacity for "toughing it out" was very nearly used up, and I didn't know how much longer I could go before I succumbed to the agony and allowed myself to slip into the darkness that was edging my sight. I needed my ship's physician to give me something to make this stop hurting.

Lastly, I needed to get the Avatar to the Father Lord. I was _so_ done with entertaining him with field trips and small talk. I didn't mind Aang as a person, and I even thought he was a pretty great kid, but I didn't need a friend. I needed my honor back, along with my father's love, the respect of my people, the company of my girlfriend, and the right to sleep in my own spirits-blessed bedroom again.

Before my mental to-do list could be swallowed by the pain that simply refused to be ignored, I said, "We can do one of three things: we could wait here and let Aang come and find us, or you two could go try to find a way out of here and locate Aang quickly, or we could all three go."

"But you can't walk," Katara objected.

"I would need help," I explained.

"I don't think splitting up is a good idea right now," Sokka said. "We could just end up getting more lost, and you probably shouldn't be left alone in a dark, underground portion of strange ruins with a badly broken leg. So wait here, or look for Aang?"

"Even if we help," Katara cautioned, "Moving you will hurt quite a bit."

"I can deal with it."

"If we were to look for Aang, where would we even start?" Katara wondered. "This temple is huge."

"Let's try to find our way back to where Appa is," Sokka suggested. "Aang has to go back for Appa eventually, right?"

"Yeah," Katara agreed. "Good thinking, Sokka."

"Alright," I said. "Let's go then."

Katara slipped her shoulders under one of my arms, and Sokka mimicked her gesture. They lifted me into an upright position between them. It didn't work perfectly, as I was taller than both of them, but they managed to keep my weight off my legs. Moving did hurt, but at least it was a step in the direction of leaving.

Our progression was painfully slow as we maneuvered out of the rubble that had been the treacherous ceiling above us. It seemed as though whatever part of the temple we had fallen into was not open to the air—there was no outside light at all. We could only see as far as the periphery of the sphere of light coming from the fire in my hand.

Sokka navigated. I did not help. I was rather preoccupied with the two hugely important and incredibly difficult tasks of remaining conscious and keeping up our light source. I was completely unaware of where we were and where we were going.

A few millennia passed before we finally emerged into what I dimly recognized as Aang's bedroom. It was dark by then, so I kept up the fire, even though I knew I was fading fast. They set me down gently on Aang's bed, and I tried unsuccessfully not to grimace as the motion jostled my leg.

"Well, Appa's still here," Sokka said as he looked outside. "That's a good sign."

Katara sat down on the floor next to the bed and said, "There's nothing left to do but wait. He'll come back tonight, won't he?"

"I hope so," I murmured.

"He will," Sokka said with his usual conviction. That was the last thing I remember hearing.

* * *

"Zuko. Zuko, wake up. Wake up, Prince Zuko."

I couldn't identify the voice right away, but it wanted me to wake up. I hadn't known I had fallen asleep.

"Please, Prince Zuko, open your eyes."

I did as the familiar voice instructed and was pleased to find that the voice belonged to Uncle. I noticed that Uncle looked very worried, much more worried than I had seen him since—well, my muddled brain would come up with an example later. Beyond Uncle, I saw a grayish sky, like the color it is the hour before sunrise.

"What—" I started to ask, but it didn't come out of my mouth sounding like a word, so I gave up on it. I seemed to be in a considerable amount of pain, and it was coming from my leg.

I heard Uncle giving orders, and then I felt hands picking me up. I wanted to fight them, but my body wasn't quite up to it just then. The sky disappeared and was replaced with a familiar looking ceiling. Then I was being set down again, and I was a bit more comfortable here. A man began fussing over me, and after a moment's thought I recognized him as my ship's physician. I didn't remember his name.

I heard him ask, "Are you hurt?" I was confused, because I thought my injury would be more apparent to him in his clarity of thought than to me in my haze of pain.

I was slightly less confused when I heard a quiet "No, sir" from somewhere near me. He hadn't been talking to me, but I did wonder who was there.

"Then get out," the physician snapped.

"Who—?" I managed to articulate.

Katara moved into my view. "It's me, Katara," she clarified.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"I told you to get out! You have no place here!"

"Stay," I commanded. Some of my mind's fuzziness was clearing up, and I was beginning to remember some of the things that transpired at the air temple. "What happened?" I asked again.

"We waited most of the night for Aang to come back. Your guards returned just a little while after you fell asleep. When Aang showed up, we tried to wake you, but you only seemed half-aware of what was going on. So we brought you back on Appa, and we just got here a few minutes ago. Your Uncle was very worried." That sounded about right.

I was helped into a sitting position and something was held against my lips. "Drink," he said. "It'll help with the pain." I obeyed; it tasted foul, and I told him so.

"You probably don't want to stay for this, girl," he said, ignoring my complaint. "It'll make you sick to see me fix an injury this bad."

"Actually, sir, I helped out with quite a bit of the nursing that went on in my tribe, and I've patched a few people up. It doesn't bother me anymore. I'd like to stay and see how you do this, if you don't mind."

"Prince Zuko, do you mind if she stays?" he asked me. I shook my head. I was feeling sleepier, and I thought it had something to do with whatever I had just drunk.

"Alright, then, but stay out of my way," he grouched, and then turned to me and ordered, "You lie back down now."

I did, and I was soon unconscious again.

* * *

I woke up in my bed in the room I had been sharing with Uncle. I felt the opposite of tired, and I suspected I had been asleep for a very long time. My leg didn't feel good, but it was much more bearable now, and I wasn't going to complain about the improvement. Truthfully, I'd been in much worse pain than that caused by this injury—burns hurt _a lot_.

I was alone, and I didn't feel confident that I could get up, so I stayed where I was. It wasn't terribly uncomfortable, but it did leave me alone with my thoughts.

Of the three items on my mental to-do list, two could be checked off, which wasn't too bad considering they'd been accomplished while I was injured and unconscious. We had the Avatar. We had gotten back to the ship, and they fixed my leg up. I wasn't sure yet if I had any damage control to run, but I wouldn't know until I was able to talk to someone.

My remaining objective was to take the Avatar back to the Fire Nation. The main delay to this was that I still had to take the Water Tribe siblings back to the South Pole, adding the better part of a week to our journey. I felt very uncomfortable with this delay—it was just asking something to go wrong. It wasn't that I had reason to mistrust Aang; I knew that he would come willingly enough, so long as Sokka and Katara hadn't yet succeeded in making him distrustful of the Fire Nation. It was more that I would be giving fate extra opportunity to take him away from me. Now, basically crippled, I would be even less prepared to respond to any bad circumstance.

The door creaked open, and Uncle peered in. "You're awake," he stated as he came inside and pulled a chair over to sit beside me.

I nodded. "What's going on?"

"We are currently en route to the Fire Nation," he told me, surprising me.

"What about returning them to the South Pole?"

"I figured you would not want to," he explained, "So I fabricated an excuse to satisfy our guests. As far as they know, we received a messenger hawk while you were away that informed us that your sister is deathly ill, and we have no time to lose if we wish to reach her before she expires."

"They believe it? They're not insisting to be taken back?"

"No, they're quite sympathetic to the urgency of our situation, even if they believe it is due to a different cause. They did, however, want to ensure that they could get a ride back home at some point, and the Avatar volunteered to fly them back after he had met with the Fire Lord."

Well, he obviously wouldn't be doing that. "I'll have somebody see to it that they return safely after the Ava—after my honor is reinstated."

Uncle nodded.

"So how bad is this?" I asked, gesturing to my leg.

"Quite bad," he said grimly. "Prince Zuko, the way it was told to me, you were lucky not to have lost it. You may never be able to run or fight on it again, but we won't know until it's healed."

I looked down. This was bad news. "A small price to pay," I said quietly, "For what I will gain in return for the Avatar."

"The bone is set, and you're allowed to move, so long as you don't try to walk on it," Uncle informed me. He reached behind my bed to grab something I had not noticed. "I had the crew find something to help with that."

I examined the crutches under a critical eye. "They'll do." So I would not be confined to this chamber for the entire return trip—good. "What time is it?"

"Time for tea!" Uncle exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, give me a minute, I'll be right there," I told him.

* * *

I figured out the crutches fairly quickly, and ten minutes later saw me dressed presentably and sitting between Uncle and Aang as I sipped tea and listened to Sokka's exaggerated tale of our misadventures in the Southern Air Temple.

"Hold on," I interrupted him. "I was pretty out of it, but I think I would have noticed if we had encountered giant man-eating spider-foxes."

"Don't mind him," Katara told me, laughing. "He always does that, and there's nothing we can do to stop him from making his stories fantastic."

"Not bad, Sokka," Aang said. "But I found some really cool and _real_ stuff in the air temple."

"What?" I inquired.

"Well, first—" Aang paused to reach into his shirt and pull out… "—meet Momo!" He held up what I guessed to be the little creature he ran off after.

"What is he?"

"Momo's a winged-lemur; a bunch of my old friends kept them as pets. He's proof that everything from my home isn't gone and dead."

"That's wonderful, Aang," I said politely, because I didn't have much of an opinion on his obtaining a pet. "What does he eat?"

"Usually whatever Sokka's trying to eat," Katara answered with a grin.

"And he can fly!" Aang informed us.

"I would expect no less from an airbender's pet," Uncle said.

"Alright, so besides finding Momo, what else did you do that kept you busy in the temple for hours into the night?"

"Well, Momo led me into this enormous room that I'd never seen before," Aang recounted. "It was full of statues—hundreds or thousands of them. Each one was different, and after looking at a bunch of them, I realized that they were my past lives, the Avatars who came before me. There was one who I knew."

"Which one?" Katara asked. "How did you know him?"

"I…don't know how I knew it was him, as I haven't heard his name before, but it was Roku, the Avatar before me."

"Interesting," Uncle mused. "Did you know, Prince Zuko, that Avatar Roku was a friend of your great-grandfather before the war started?"

I didn't know that, and I was surprised to hear it—I hadn't imagined the fierce and famous Fire Lord Sozin to have been human enough to have friends. "I did not know that."

Aang continued, "Well, anyway, there was something about him that I just couldn't look away from, so I stood there looking at him for a really long time. When I realized how dark it had gotten and how long I must have been there, I went looking for you, but it was dark and I couldn't find you. Eventually I got so tired that I just went back to Appa, and I found you guys there. That was smart, going back there."

"It was my idea!" Sokka interjected.

"Katara and Sokka told me what happened to you," Aang went on. "I'm really sorry you got hurt. I wouldn't have brought you all up there if I had known it wasn't safe, and I definitely shouldn't have left you like I did. I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry about it," I said hastily. The words '_it's not a big deal_' were on the tip of my tongue, but I refrained from saying them as I remembered how bad an injury I had suffered.

There was a little pause, and then Katara addressed me, "We heard your sister is ill. I'm so sorry."

"You seem to just have really terrible luck," Sokka observed.

Oh joy, I had to pretend to be sad over an ailing Azula. This would be the true test of my skills of deception. "I know," I said gravely. "I couldn't believe it when I heard. I haven't seen her in _years_, and I just—" I frowned and averted my eyes for a moment, then shifted the subject, "Will you two be in a lot of trouble for staying away so long?"

Katara and Sokka looked at each other unhappily. "Possibly," Sokka said. "They'll understand when we explain what happened, but they'll have spent a lot of time being worried. They won't forget that easily."

"I hate that we're doing this to Gran Gran," Katara said sadly. "And what if Dad comes home before we get back?"

"Then we would _definitely_ be in trouble," Sokka told her. "He would never have approved of us leaving in the first place! We were supposed to be looking after the tribe while he was away."

"Hey, is there any chance we could send a letter to our grandmother to warn her that we won't be back right away?" Katara asked Uncle and me.

"I'm afraid not," Uncle apologized. "A messenger hawk wouldn't survive for that long in such a cold environment. It would expire before it ever reached the South Pole."

"Oh," she said. "Thanks anyway."

As Uncle apologized for their current position, I thought, _You shouldn't have come. It was a bad idea from the start_. But now that they were no longer a setback to my getting what I wanted, I found that I didn't mind their presence so much anymore.

* * *

I was walking on deck that evening—practicing with my crutches—when I found the Avatar, his lemur on his shoulder, sitting on his bison's head. He was watching the sunset.

"Aang," I acknowledged him.

He glanced at me, and I was surprised to see that he had been crying.

"Are you okay, Aang? What's wrong?"

He rubbed his eyes with his fists and hopped with an airbender's inherent lightness and grace off of Appa's head. "I…didn't tell everything that happened back at the temple."

"You can talk to me," I encouraged him. "You can tell me anything, and I'll keep it between us." That was an Azula saying—it was only ever used for evil—so I hoped that using it didn't make me the antagonist in this exchange. It probably did.

"When I was growing up, I didn't know either of my parents; that's just the way the Air Nomads lived. I had Monk Gyatso instead. He was my favorite person in the whole world." Aang paused. "I saw him there, Zuko. His skeleton. I knew it was him from the pendant he wore. He—I knew he had to be dead by now, but…I just….Nobody ever buried his body…and he died violently, as his home was destroyed and his people killed." Aang was crying again. "I wasn't there, and I should have been..."

"I'm sorry, Aang," I said, and I pulled him into a hug that would have been awkward (for me) even without the crutches making the gesture difficult. "But he would have been happy to know that you made it out okay, and you're still alive today to continue your people's presence in the world."

He nodded and hugged me back, burying his face in my shirt and shaking as he cried. He had lost so much—suddenly, as it would seem to him—and he had so much grieving to do. I thought this situation incredibly awkward, but I was not quite callous enough to refuse the kid a shoulder to cry on.

Poor kid. And on top of all this, I was going to betray him. And I thought Azula was evil.


	7. Island of the Serpent

When I opened the door to leave my chamber, I didn't expect to see Sokka.

"Hey, Zuko!" he greeted me. "You busy?"

"Not particularly," I said warily. "What do you want?"

"Well…I was thinking…"

"Never a good sign," I said seriously.

"Katara always says that too!" he informed me.

"I'm not surprised."

"Anyway, I was thinking about how, when you first came to the Water Tribe, you were able to beat me pretty easily, and without using your bending. So I was wondering: would you mind showing me a few moves?" He smiled hopefully.

I had not anticipated this request. "There are a couple issues with this thought, Sokka," I told him. "First, you may not have noticed, but I'm on crutches. I can't exactly spar with you like this. Second, you may have forgotten, but we're on opposite sides of a war. Why would I want to train the _enemy_ for battle?"

Sokka looked at me, the hopeful smile vanished.

"But I'll still give you a few pointers," I finished, earning the smile back. While he followed me up to the main deck, he didn't ask why I was doing this for him, and I didn't tell him. The way I saw it, I owed him; he and his sister easily could have left me in the air temple. They could have said that I died in that fall, and no one would have been the wiser. I was their enemy, as I had just reminded him, and if they were not quite so kind, they would have somehow taken advantage of my circumstances. They didn't even seem to recognize how much I owed them, but I did, and combat lessons were the least I could do to begin evening the score.

"Alright, Sokka," I said once we were under the morning sky. "What do you know about fighting?"

"Well, my dad taught me a bit before he left for the war, and then I sort of just taught myself for a few years. I can use a spear, a club, and a boomerang."

"I've never actually studied any of those weapons," I admitted. "Other than my bending, I can fight with dual swords, and I can fight weaponless. This is what I'll teach you, but I have to warn you: I've been training for years and years with the best masters the Fire Nation has to offer. You won't get as good as me in the course of a day—you just won't."

"Okay," Sokka said, although the look on his face accepted the challenge with a determined '_We'll see about that!_'

* * *

Due to my condition, I mostly just taught him theory and corrected his form while I ran him through some drills. From what I had experienced of his fighting tactics, he seemed inclined towards blind aggression in battle—and I knew that I was often guilty of that too—so my main objective was to teach him how to think in combat. It was more talking than he probably anticipated, but he responded to it very well. I quickly found out that Sokka was much smarter than I had originally assumed.

We had been at it for a couple hours when land came into view in the distance.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked me when he saw it.

We were still fairly close to the South Pole; I was surprised that he wasn't more familiar with the area. Perhaps, as a member of the world elite, I held unrealistic expectations of the educational prowess of the common people. My education had made me able to name pretty much every significant place in the world—and all the important things about those places, all the important people who have lived there, and all the important things that have happened there.

"I think that's Kyoshi Island, but the captain could tell you for sure," I told him.

I didn't think that airbenders or Avatars had any especially acute hearing ability, but I had to consider the possibility when Aang came racing towards us at airbender speed and exclaimed, "Kyoshi Island!"

"What's so special about Kyoshi Island?" Katara, who had followed him at a slower speed, asked.

"It was created by and named after Avatar Kyoshi," I offered. "Her cult still inhabits it, and as of right now they're neutral in the war."

"Well, yeah," said Aang dismissively. "But _look_—elephant koi! I'm gonna ride one!" And with that, he started taking his clothes off.

"Um, Aang?" I said as more and more skin was bared (those tattoos looked like they went _everywhere_). I was a little shocked by this behavior—as a prince, I simply didn't have many people stripping in front of me. "How about you keep your pants _on_?"

Ignoring my suggestion, he said, "With what I'm about to do, I won't need any pants." Then he jumped overboard, and we all heard a splash, followed by a loud cry: "COOOOLLLLLDDDD!" I saw Sokka and Katara exchange a look, and Sokka made the universal gesture for '_he's crazy_'.

Down this far south, of course the ocean was cold. It was terrible for swimming in, at least for people. Judging by the large school of giant koi fish that the Avatar swam towards, the cold was not a turn off to all creatures. Aang soon got hold of one, and he rode on its back, hanging on to its fin with one hand and waving at us with the other.

Looking past the Avatar, I saw the shore of the island in the distance. I might have been mistaken, but I thought I saw a person moving on the shore.

"Do you see that?" Katara asked worriedly, and I was surprised for a moment that she had seen what I saw. Then I realized that she was speaking of something entirely different. A large, dark shadow was moving under the surface of the water, stalking the school of koi.

"What is that thing?" I asked as a koi fish near the back of the school was overtaken by the shadow and vanished.

"I don't know, but he needs to get out of there," Sokka replied, and then shouted, "AANG!"

Our failure to attract the Avatar's attention was not for want of effort. He was oblivious to the danger and to our antics, and I was beginning to consider my odds of actually convincing the Father Lord that I had the Avatar, but I lost him when he was eaten by a giant oceanic shadow-monster. The odds didn't seem to be in my favor.

Another fish had disappeared, and the shadow was now pursuing Aang's koi. I gasped and Katara screamed as the fish was pulled under the water and Aang went flying off its back. He landed several meters away. While relieved when I saw Aang's head come back up, I was horrified as I watched a black serrated fin rising out of the water behind him. It was immense, nearly the size of my ship, and it made Aang look about the size of an insect.

Finally wary of the monster, Aang leapt out of the water and began running across its surface back towards us, followed closely by the fin. While a part of me took a moment to be impressed that the airbender could run on water, the more pragmatic part of my mind was deeply concerned for the safety of my ship, which currently had a giant see monster approaching at high speed on the port side.

Uncle had taught me that keeping a level head was a sign of a great leader, so I forced the edge of panic out of my voice as I called out orders to my crew. All hands reported to deck and the catapults were readied and loaded in record time. Aang was seconds from reaching the ship when the creature fully immerged from the ocean beneath him, causing the water to rise suddenly and slam Aang into the metal hull of the ship, the wave that carried him washing over the deck.

Katara, Sokka, and I rushed to look down into the water around the ship where Aang had disappeared. He was not resurfacing. Fortunately, I could be certain that he had not been eaten, as the monstrous sea serpent in question was currently sizing up my ship, probably seeking an easier snack than the elusive airbender.

I had to make a snap decision. I could yell "Fire!" or I could yell "Man overboard!" Was my crew the priority, or was the Avatar?

"Fire!" I yelled. Then I turned to Sokka and ordered, "There's a coil of rope near the stern; go get it, and we'll—_wait! Katara!_"

The girl had jumped overboard.

"Is she out of her mind? What's she doing?"

She had disappeared beneath the surface of the water, and I stared for a moment at the spot where she had gone under. I was about to repeat my order to Sokka when she reappeared, shooting up out of the water with the Avatar in her arms. They overshot the ship's rail and landed hard on top of Sokka, who emitted an indignant noise.

Katara knelt by an unconscious Aang and, with a fluid motion of her hand, drew water out of his mouth. He coughed and opened his eyes.

With everyone alive and out of the water, I had a more immediate concern to deal with. There was still a giant black monster in close proximity to my ship. Surveying the situation, I was pleased to find that the serpent appeared to be losing. It dodged most of the fireballs my crew sent its way, but it had suffered a few damaging hits. I watched as a well-placed attack caught the side of its head, and it apparently decided that no snack was worth this much trouble. It retreated back into the ocean.

There was a moment of post-struggle silence, and then the men erupted into cheers. I went to find the captain to hear damage reports and supply expenditures, and I tracked down Uncle to have him oversee the ship's return to order. After these requirements of station were fulfilled, I went to find my trio of guests/unwitting captives.

They had made their way back to the room shared by Aang and Sokka. Katara and Aang were still dripping seawater, and Aang had a nasty gash on his forehead, probably from colliding with my ship.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, more out of convention than inquiry, as I was going to have him sent to the infirmary regardless of his answer.

Aang nodded mutely.

"You got knocked out, almost drowned, and you're still bleeding—why don't you let the physician take a look at you?"

Aang nodded again, and Sokka accompanied him out of the room. He swayed dizzily as he moved.

Katara was wringing water out of her hair and watching me with nervousness that I couldn't justify. When she didn't say anything, I offered, "So…you're a waterbender."

"No, I'm not," she protested immediately. I could have discerned the lie even if I hadn't already seen evidence to refute it.

"Yes, you are," I said with certainty. "I saw you."

"That was Aang; he's a waterbender. I'm not, I assure you." Her voice rose slightly as she repeated her claim.

"Aang was unconscious. You were bending."

"I—" she started to deny, but stopped when she realized it wasn't working. She looked at the floor between her feet and asked quietly, "What are you going to do to me?"

I knew that the Fire Nation suppressed enemy benders as best as they could. I had learned that the forces of the Southern Water Tribe were insignificant because they had no remaining waterbenders. Katara had no doubt experienced this acutely as she tried to learn how to bend without anyone to teach her, and she certainly had an appropriate amount of fear that her bending would make her a target of the Fire Nation.

"I don't know yet," the Azula in me taunted her. "What should I do?"

I expected her to cringe in fear, but instead her eyes hardened and she glared at me. She didn't answer me. I had less power over her than I thought.

"I have no quarrel with you," I said at last. "It goes against policy, and I could get in trouble if someone finds out about this, but I'll help you out. I won't tell anyone, and I'll find out what the crew knows. If anyone did notice—which I doubt—well, silence isn't cheap, but it can be bought."

She watched my face, trying to see if I was earnest. Her eyes only lingered a moment too long on my scar. "Thank you," came her subdued response.

I thought the exchange went well. I had gained knowledge, gained leverage, and even done a favor that worked towards paying off my debt. Two Azula objectives and one of my own—not bad for one day.

* * *

The black ship was drawing nearer and nearer. No one on it took any notice of the little boat bobbing in the water.

When its occupant had no more need of it, it was filled with water and disappeared into the ocean.

The Fire Nation did not know they had a security breach.


	8. Discretion

**Author's Note: The reason for this obscenely long space between updates is because I decided to take up a new sport, and it consumes a ton of time and energy. Not to mention the fact that finals are right around the corner and I feel waaaaay underprepared. So, yeah, sorry that updating is rather low-priority right now.**

**This chapter's not from Zuko's POV. He needed a break, but rest assured that our beloved Zuzu will return next chapter.**

**:)**

* * *

Sokka was beginning to tire of being on this ship.

Aang was resting in the infirmary following his encounter with the sea serpent. Katara was sitting with him and annoying the physician with her presence and her insatiable curiosity. Zuko and his uncle were in a meeting with the ship's captain concerning boring stuff. Even Appa and Momo were preoccupied with their napping. Sokka, having no one to entertain him, had tried to follow suit, but he found that he just couldn't fall asleep in the middle of the day.

Sokka had resigned himself to walking the ship's corridors, nosing into anything unlocked and unoccupied. He imagined himself a spy for the Water Tribe, gathering information to pass back along to his dad and the rest of the warriors. He had yet to find anything that he would consider relevant enough to report, other than what he had gathered of the layout of the inside of the ship. He was quickly growing tired of this diversion.

Sokka pushed open an unmemorable door to reveal what appeared to be yet another storage room, this one containing semi-orderly piles of broken or rusted pieces Fire Nation armor. He picked up a cracked and caved in helmet and noted that whoever was wearing this when it was damaged probably died from the incident. He wondered if battle still looked scary from inside these intimidating helmets, and if the people who wore them worried that they might not live to take them off. He turned it over in his hands, wondering if he might be developing some sort of empathy for the men on the enemy lines—definitely something he shouldn't allow.

_They're monsters_, he reminded himself. _They killed_—

Just wanting to know what it was like to wear one, Sokka put it down and selected a less damaged helmet from the pile. Just as would be expected of Sokka, he pulled one from the bottom and caused the whole lot to come crashing down to the floor loudly. To his astonishment, this revealed a young woman, who had evidently been hiding behind the pile.

Sokka's first thought should probably have been to wonder who she was and what she was doing on this ship. He should have wanted to know why he had never seen her, whether she had permission to be there, and why she was hiding in a storeroom.

Instead, Sokka's first thought upon seeing her was that this girl was fiercely pretty. She had close-cropped light brown hair framing a sweet, cream-colored face into which were set large, intelligent eyes. He opened his mouth to offer a flirtatious greeting that was surely destined to be endearingly lame, but she was across the room and had her hand clamped over his mouth before he could utter a syllable.

"If you make a sound, I'll gut you," she whispered into his ear. It didn't sound like an empty threat.

Sokka just managed to stop himself before he asked her why. Eyes wide, he raised his hands to show that he didn't mean any harm. So efficiently he almost didn't keep up with what she was doing, she gagged him, blindfolded him, and tied his hands behind his back. He never even saw whether or not she had a knife.

"Now move," she said into his ear from close behind him. "We need to get out of here before someone comes to investigate that little commotion you caused. Don't try to run."

He allowed himself to be led around, fuming silently that some girl had managed to put him in this situation. He consoled himself with the reasoning that it had only happened because she had surprised him and…uh…_distracted_ him. It definitely constituted a sneak attack, and it was well established that sneak attacks do not count.

He heard a door quietly creak shut. He was spun around, and his gag was removed.

"Keep your voice down. Who are you?" she interrogated him.

"Who are _you_?" he challenged.

"None of your business." He waited for her to offer more information, stubbornly refusing to submit to the will of the antagonistic stranger. "You don't look Fire Nation," she eventually mused. "Water Tribe, probably. So what are you doing wandering around a Fire Navy ship?"

"Everyone on this ship knows me and why I'm here," Sokka said defensively. "You're the one who should be answering some questions. Who are you and what do you want?"

"If you don't cooperate with me, I'll throw you into the water and let the unagi take care of you," she threatened.

"That giant sea monster thing? What did you call it?"

"The unagi. It eats pretty much anything and everything that moves, so I'd be careful if I were you."

"Fine," Sokka said, trying not to let his voice reveal his nervousness—he really did not want to have another encounter with the unagi. "My name's Sokka, and yes, I'm Water Tribe. Now what do you want?"

"I want to know why the Fire Navy is making waves in this part of the world. There's nothing at stake down here, so they usually stay away, but this ship is uncomfortably close and I want to know why."

"Alright, that checks out," Sokka said brightly. "I'm no fan of the Fire Nation either, and being from down south, I totally feel ya on the wanting-to-know-what-they're-doing-here thing. Since I happen to know what this ship is up to, I'll even help you out."

A hand pushed the blindfold off of his eyes, and he blinked at the girl, who looked slightly taken aback. "Well, that was much simpler than I expected," she stated. "What do you know?"

"This ship isn't looking to make any trouble," Sokka began. "It's headed for the Fire Nation with great urgency. Some very important stuff is going down."

"Like what? And how does it involve you?"

"I'm just along for the ride, with my sister and her friend too. Get this: the guy in charge of this ship is the prince of the Fire Nation! He's escorting the Avatar, if you can believe it, back to the Fire Nation to talk to the Fire Lord about ending the war!"

The girl became very still. "Is that what he told you?" she asked in a deadly quiet voice.

"Yes?" Sokka's confusion at her abrupt shift in demeanor made his answer sound like a question.

"This prince…he's Prince Zuko, correct?"

"Yeah, do you know him?"

She shook her head. "But I know of him—and he's been lying to you."

Sokka felt suddenly very cold, and all traces of lightheartedness left him. He could smack himself for ever going so far as to be friendly with the enemy. Ugh, moron! Zuko had even _reminded_ him that they were enemies, and he _still_ had let his guard down. "About what?"

"Do you know anything about him, other than what he's told you?"

"No."

"Well, he's really quite infamous in the Earth Kingdom and even, I think, in the Fire Nation."

This was new, but not really a lie for Zuko to have concealed it.

She went on: "A few years ago, he caused some kind of stir in the Fire Nation capital. I've heard different accounts of what he did, so I'm not really sure what it was, but it ticked off the Fire Lord."

Sokka intended to find out what Zuko had done, mostly because he was now curious.

"Fire Lord Ozai is merciless. You've seen Zuko's face, haven't you?"

Sokka nodded. He thought he saw where this was going, and it was not anywhere good.

"That scar, according to what I've heard, was a going-away present from the Fire Lord when he banished Zuko from the Fire Nation."

Sokka was appalled. "Poor guy," he said. "I had no idea. That's rough."

"That's not all of it, though," she said urgently. "Don't feel sorry for him, because he is most definitely your enemy."

"Go on," Sokka encouraged her.

"There is one way that the Fire Lord will allow Zuko to return to the Fire Nation. I think it's especially cruel what he did—giving him a tiny sliver of hope that will prevent him from ever moving on with his life, dooming him to spending his whole life chasing a dream that will never come true." She seemed to soften a moment, and Sokka thought that was probably how she looked when she wasn't being a spy. "That is, until you told me that he actually found the Avatar. The only way Zuko can return and regain his lost honor is if he captures the Avatar and brings him to the Fire Lord."

"So, what he said about diplomacy and ending the war…?"

"Lies. The only reason the Fire Lord wants the Avatar is because he is the last hope the world has of defeating the Fire Nation. He wants to get rid of him so that there's nobody in the way of the Fire Nation taking over the entire world, which is exactly what would happen if this plan is carried through."

"Oh boy, this is bad," Sokka said gravely. "What do we do?"

"Is there any way you can get the Avatar off this ship and away from Zuko?"

"Well, we do have a flying bison—really! I know it sounds crazy, and I only believe it myself because I've actually seen it fly—"

"Focus!" she cut him off. "Then get the Avatar and your sister and whoever else you want and get out of here as soon as you can. But do it discreetly, so they don't realize you're gone right away."

"What about you? What are you going to do?"

The girl bit her lip, as though he had asked her a difficult question. "I need to get off this ship—I can't go all the way to the Fire Nation. I had planned to just hop off the next time it made port, but I guess I'm out of luck…I don't suppose there's room for one more on that flying bison of yours?"

Sokka looked around casually as if contemplating it—the effect was diminished by his hands still being tied behind his back. "I do suppose, if you want," he told her at last, feigning indifference. "But we'll need to get you up to the deck without being seen."

She chuckled, and there was a slight edge to her amusement. "Discretion? No problem."

* * *

It was a little saddening, watching Katara's eyes harden when he told her what he had learned—she would be that much less likely to trust a stranger again. Sokka had gone straight to the infirmary as soon as he had finished talking to his storeroom girl, and as soon as he saw that the physician was out, he had broken the news.

Katara had no trouble believing him, but Aang was a different case entirely.

The airbender was still playing the invalid, as apparently concussions could be quite unpleasant to recover from. Sokka's words seemed to confuse him, and it took him a minute to form the inquiry of how Sokka knew this.

"So you're just taking the word of some strange girl who's stowing away on the ship?" Aang had asked when Sokka had revealed his source. "Why should you trust her?"

"Because she's on our side of the war," Sokka told him. "You might not get war yet because you were raised by a bunch of nonviolent nomads in a time of peace, but generally you're supposed to trust your allies over your enemies."

"But Zuko has been so nice to us," Aang protested. "He doesn't feel like an enemy. We should at least ask him if this is true before we disappear without any explanation."

"Aang, do you really think he'd admit to it if he was planning to betray us?" Katara asked rhetorically.

"Think!" Sokka urged him. "We're taking a risk by being here, because there is a big chance that what she told me is true."

"You can't take risks, Aang. The world needs you, and as the Avatar you have to think of the world's needs first. Even if you want to trust Zuko, it's wrong of you to gamble the fate of the entire world on the ties of a new friendship."

Aang looked like he was thinking, a solemn expression on his face as he gazed at the ground. "How long do we have before we get to the Fire Nation?" he asked at length.

"If what they're telling us is true, then we should be there in two or three days."

"But we don't know," Aang concluded, "Because you think they might be lying to us."

"Exactly."

Aang's sad grey eyes were still trained on the floor. "My head hurts. I'll think about this later." He lay down on his cot and turned away from the Water Tribe siblings.

* * *

The wide-eyed physician stepped back from the door and hurried as quietly as he could down the hall. When one of the peasants opened the door, he was out of sight.

* * *

**As always, thanks for reading!**


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